Credit card 0% bt for 78 year old

jmgeofiz

hi

just found out my elderly father (78 years) has approx £7k outstanding credit card debt with Barclaycard. He hasnt purchased anything for 3 years and is making regular payments but the interest rate is so high that he is hardly making inrodes into the debt. He wont give me exact figs or the interest rate because he is proud and doesnt want me to see the full position.

He has 3 pensions coming in plus incapacity benefit for my mum and has no bad credit info. Does anyone know of a credit card that are likely to accept him at his age? Obviously if he was younger I would be looking for a 0% balance transfer deal for him.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks
jmg:eek:

jonesMUFCforever

If his credit rating is ok he MAY get another card BUT some will take his age into consideration.
No offence but some might turn him down for a balance transfer because the chances of them getting their money back before he leaves this earth are getting slimmer with every passing birthday.
You could help him explain to Barclaycard to see if they will reduce their interest rates or if not strongly advise him to contact CAB for advice.

Martinslovechild

My Dad, who's 71, has had no difficulty getting 0% cards. He's not a stoozer, but he could certainly be described as a tart (in the nicest possible way of course!).

However, I don't think he gets massive credit limits due to his lack of income, but it's worth applying for your Dad's credit file from Experian (£2 from their website) and applying for a 0% card to at least move some if not all of his Barclaycard balance on to a cheaper card.

Moggles_2

Are you in a position to apply for a 0% balance transfer card yourself?

If so, you would almost certainly get a better credit limit than an OAP could hope for.

If this isn't an option and Barclaycard won't reduce its rate, I would talk to Saga, as its financial services are targeted at older people.

jonesMUFCforever

Moggles wrote:

Are you in a position to apply for a 0% balance transfer card yourself?

If so, you would almost certainly get a better credit limit than an OAP could hope for.

If this isn't an option and Barclaycard won't reduce its rate, I would talk to Saga, as its financial services are targeted at older people.

This will then transfer the debt from father to son.
What happens should father die before debt is repaid?
With your suggestion the son would have to carry on paying the debt himself but if it is still in father's name at time of death then it becomes a claim on his estate. If there is not enough money in the estate to pay it off it would have to be written off by Barclaycard.
Sorry to be morose about this but the facts have to be faced.

jmgeofiz

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I think the starting point has to be for dad to give me correct facts and figs then I can work out whats best, perhaps with advice from the CAB.

Thanks again
jmg